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(sorta) new XP desktop, resetting users

Started by BiscuitShaped , Dec 11 2023 05:10 PM

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3 replies to this topic

#1 BiscuitShaped

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Posted 11 December 2023 - 05:10 PM

Last weekend I bought an old Optiplex 745 from a local thrift store for the purposes of making a light duty gaming box. I have some nostalgia for this particular Dell model, and the installation of Office 2000 that's on it.

Brought it home, fired it up and everything seems to work perfectly, though it could use a few hardware upgrades (more on that some other time...)

Problem is, the old user's accounts are in there and I can only log in with the standard Windows Administrator account.

Ok, workable so far...

but when I create a new user, or even try to reset the password of one of the old users, when I power cycle the machine, everything reverts back to the state when I bought it. New users are deleted, existing users' passwords are un-reset and any software I installed is gone too.

I've tried going in Safe Mode and deleting some software that I thought might be the culprit, but on restart... ITS BACK!

I also tried doing a Windows Reset, but that application was missing from the start menu (along with all the other System Tools that should be in there.

I'd like to keep the installation of XP and especially Office if at all possible, but not if I have to install all new software every time I want to use this machine! Can anyone tell me what is resetting the machine every time I start it up, or more importantly, how to stop it?

Thank you!!!

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#2 JohnC_21

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Posted 11 December 2023 - 05:34 PM

There is software that can revert XP to it's previous state. See if XP Steady State is installed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_SteadyState

I never used it but if it is installed see the below link on how to remove it.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/8c027850-ce9f-43ec-8569-a98e3ea057ac/how-to-remove-steady-state-from-my-pc-with-win-xp-3v

Other software that can do this

https://www.howtogeek.com/166205/how-to-easily-reset-a-computer-back-to-a-clean-state-each-time-it-boots/

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#3 BiscuitShaped

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Posted 11 December 2023 - 09:57 PM

John, you nailed it! I found a program on it called Deep Freeze by Faronics which is meant to do exactly what it is doing... reverting the machine to a fixed image every time it starts up.

I looked up how to get rid of it and tried some of the methods others had posted but none were successful. Basically, they all went like this:

go into BIOS and set the year +/- 10 years from what it is to shut down the software (don't understand why that would but...)

ctrl-alt-del to go into Task Mgr/services and look for DF5serv.exe and disable it (and / or the other program DEEPFREEZE.exe or somesuch

go into the folder c:/program files/faronics and run the uninstaller

one guide even went so far as to include editing the registry and deleting two entries:

HKey Local Machine/System/Controlset1/services/DeepFreeze

and

HKey Local Machine/System/Controlset1/services//DF5Srv

and delete both of them, though it turns out the same files are duplicated in

HKey Local Machine/System/Controlset3

and

HKey Local Machine/System/Controlset current

Now obviously I did all that, and I'm still asking questions, so obviously it didn't work

So I went Nuclear...

I tool the drive out of that machine and put it into another, set as NOT the boot drive, and then went into d:/program files/Faronics and deleted the whole damn folder

Now here's the fun part...

THAT DIDNT WORK!

the program is now gone no matter which computer the drive is in, and when I put it back into the Optiplex, the Deep Freeze icon is not showing up in the system tray and its not showing up in Task Manager / services either

but when I restart the machine, everything still reverts to the original state... the registry has the entries back in it, though the program files are still gone and its not coming back into task manager.

So how the hell does a program that's been deleted... doesn't show up in the tray... and isn't in Task Manager, STILL manage to rebuild itself in Registry and still reset everything whenever I power up the machine???

I'm sure its something simple that's way over my head , but I need a hand here, or maybe a slap in the back of the head!

Thanks for your guidance so far... any ideas on what to do next?

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#4 JohnC_21

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Posted 12 December 2023 - 07:58 AM

Did you use this guide?

https://www.wikihow.com/Uninstall-Deep-Freeze

I'm not familiar with Deep Freeze but if possible I would install the program again and follow the guide. It's possible the program was password protected. It also could have done things to the boot sector but I can't confirm that. Also, you probably don't have the install exe of the program and only the trial is available.

You can see in the first article in the below link Deep Freeze keeps the MBR from being altered. I think you would need an install CD of XP in order to write a new MBR. If you don't have one you can get one off of archive.org

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=does+deep+freeze+alter+the+mbr&ia=web

https://archive.org/details/dell.-xp-pro-sp-3

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-repair-the-master-boot-record-in-windows-xp-2624513

Personally, if possible, I would wipe the drive and do a fresh install of XP.

Edited by JohnC_21, 12 December 2023 - 08:40 AM.